Who We Are

History

Hayley Panton the founder of the Hamilton Caribbean Women’s Group, “HamCar”, comes from a large family of 7 siblings and remembers her parents often struggling to make ends meet. Eventually, they were tremendously blessed by God and one day was able to do better for themselves. Her family, the Downers felt the need to give back to their community and have been feeding the homeless for over 25 years in Kingston , Jamaica . Hayley remembers that every Boxing Day her family came together and prepared meals that were distributed to the needy in her community.

Hayley later immigrated to Canada leaving her family behind. Coming to Canada meant that Hayley would no longer be able to participate in this family tradition of community service. However, she did not let her geographical location stop her from being of service to those in need. She decided she wanted to be of service to the less fortunate in her new found community of Hamilton , Ontario. She set out to find like minded Caribbean women who too wanted to make an impact in Hamilton. She later presented her idea to other Caribbean women, specifically Faith Williams who was very encouraging and supported her idea. Faith and Hayley went on to organize a meet and greet session in a downtown apartment. The idea was to create an organization run by Caribbean women dedicated to serving those in need. Hayley’s vision was presented to a group of approximately 11 ladies who too were excited about empowering each other and making an impact in the Hamilton-Wentworth region. In 2005 HamCar was founded with 13 members and since then has grown to over 20 members.

Purpose

To promote self-development of members as well as other individuals in the Hamilton-Wentworth community.

To provide an opportunity for social networking to assist Immigrants in the Hamilton-Wentworth region.

To stimulate the interest of Caribbean women and to afford them an opportunity for the expression of united opinions.

To identify issues affecting the Hamilton-Wentworth and Caribbean regions and to actively participate in improving and safeguarding these communities